A former close advisor to Donald Trump testified in court Friday about the “crisis” that engulfed his 2016 presidential campaign after a tape emerged of him bragging about groping women.

Hope Hicks was the first ex-member of Trump’s inner circle to take the stand in his historic criminal trial — in which he stands charged of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star to avoid another scandal before the 2016 election.

“(I) was a little stunned,” Hicks said of the now infamous Access Hollywood tape in which Trump was heard boasting about grabbing women’s genitalia.

“There was consensus among us all that the tape was damaging, this was a crisis,” she added.

Hicks was subpoenaed to appear by the prosecution, which has argued that the panic engendered by the tape triggered a Trump campaign effort to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels over her claim of a sexual encounter with the married Trump.

At the trial in New York, Trump is accused of reimbursing his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment to Daniels just days ahead of the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton.বিস্তারিত